Better Than One
by Little Patch of Heaven
Summary: .:AU:. "If I hadn't acted, that boy would be dead." A new transfer student arrives from England and seems to have two personalities, as if.....could two minds really be better than one? SS & ET
1. Prologue

_Well, I know I said I wouldn't start any new stories until I finished my others, but I got this idea and couldn't help myself. This is my first shot at a Cardcaptor fanfiction. Please tell me what you think. Should I or should I not continue?

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**_Prologue_**

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From the very first time that Tomoyo Daidouji had met him, there had been the feeling that he was more than he seemed….that there was something more to the skinny, black-haired boy than met the eye. She was always said to have wonderful intuition, so she felt she just couldn't ignore the feeling.

The feeling returned full-force the first time she saw the normally well-mannered boy let lose a string of curses – _in Chinese, no less_ – very much like he was a completely different person than he was a moment ago.

And though the event was dismissed, she had long ago learned to trust her insight.

She couldn't recall if it was the first time or not that she had caught him staring intently at her best friend – _she told herself she wasn't jealous, simply curious as to why a respectable boy like Eriol __Hiiragizawa would stare at the exposed legs of the girls participating in P.E. _– when she realized his piercing blue eyes looked almost…

…amber.

Blaming it on the combined effect of the lighting and her imagination, she turned away from the stupidly smiling teen and back to the brown-haired girl attempting to successfully catch the airborne baton.

The same girl he was staring at.

**::~::**

From the first time Sakura Kinomoto had met 'him' was after clumsily spilling her soda all down the new transfer student's front. Blushing red at both her embarrassment and the words rapidly leaving his mouth, she hurriedly apologized and wondered if anyone else had ever heard the Englishman curse – _like a Chinese sailor_.

The scowl on his face had seemed so uncharacteristic and out of place that it would have been comical had she not had the strange feeling that he had somehow changed in the last few minutes.

After that, there were times when she could feel his gaze on her, and when she glanced back at him – _sneakily, she hoped_ – she had the feeling that he was in-fact **not** the same gentleman she had met weeks or so before.

Though why she had this feeling was still unsure to her, and as she had never been very perceptive before she attempted to convinced herself that she was simply giving her overactive imagination too much free reign.

**::~::**

Few weeks time after the English transfer student had arrived, the two girls had come to believe something: _there was more than one mind residing in the body of Eriol Hiiragizawa._

**::~::**

_Two minds are better than one?_


	2. Chapter 1: Transfer Student

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**_Chapter One: Transfer Student_**

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The worst thing about being friends with Eriol Hiiragizawa – he would grimace and insist the correct term was **acquaintance – **was the fact that you never heard important pieces of information until the last moment.

Eriol would close off his thoughts, easily hiding them away until he wanted them to be discovered; it wasn't until Syaoran saw the boxes that Eriol's hidden thoughts were put out in the open, allowing him to finally know what he hadn't known for weeks.

'_**We're moving?'**_ the voice was annoyed, and sounded as if the speaker was forcing the obvious question through tightly clenched teeth. Never mind the fact that he didn't actually _have _any teeth to clench. There was no reply, and the speaker continued, _**'To Japan?'**_

Eriol chuckled, and heard an aggravated growl in the back of his mind. _'Wouldn't you like to see it?'_

The voice cursed. _**'That's not the point! You didn't tell me!'**_

'_Because you would complain constantly and I would be unable to get any peace.' _Eriol's amused smile widened when he was answered with a Chinese curse. He didn't actually speak the language, but after hearing the word so many times he had a good guess at what it meant. _'Really, Syaoran, watch your language.'_

Only one figure stood in the small apartment: boy with short, unruly, black hair and large, round glasses over his blue eyes that appeared to be fifteen to sixteen years old. The entire conversation had taken place in the mind of Eriol Hiiragizawa. Contrary to the belief of some who had met him, Eriol was in no way psychotic – as long as 'evil genius' didn't count.

It had been almost half a year since the mind and soul of Syaoran Li had been magically bound to the body of Eriol Hiiragizawa. The previously brunette teen used every opportunity he was presented with to complain, but both of them knew he couldn't help but feel grateful. After all, Syaoran Li would be dead if it weren't for Eriol's quick thinking.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem that simply giving his soul a place to reside had helped much. Syaoran's body had been buried only days after it had been unwillingly abandoned by his soul. He, in Eriol's body, had even attended the funeral service; according to anyone who had known him – friends and family alike – Syaoran Li had died almost six months ago due to a fatal disease. Eriol was currently the only one who knew he was still alive, and until they could find a solution – which was unfortunately highly unlikely – it would stay that way.

And even though they were able read each others thoughts, which was why they were capable of conversing, Eriol had an annoying habit of shutting away anything he didn't want Syaoran to know and keeping him from discovering it.

Eriol heard Syaoran grumble angrily, before keeping quiet, and letting his host explain further. _'We're leaving for the airport this afternoon, and tomorrow will be attending Tomoeda High School in-'_

'_**Let me guess….Tomoeda, Japan?'**_

Eriol ignored him. _'-in Tomoeda, Japan. I heard a rumor that there is a large concentration of magic in that city, and it's highly possible that there might be a way to return you to your original body without killing your soul and mind also.'_

'_**You seem a little too eager to help.'**_

Syaoran would have grimaced at the sound of Eriol's chuckle if he could. _'Why of course. I can't wait to get you out of my head; so far you've only turned out to be a bother to me both mentally and physically. It's not exactly easy supporting two souls, and you're not exactly a fun person to be around.'_

Syaoran snorted. Of course he had known that Eriol would only help him if it helped himself as well. For the umpteenth time since he had found himself in the black-haired teen's body, he wondered just _**why**_ his current host would **willingly** become his current host. And for the umpteenth time, both minds ignored the question.

::~::

The one thing Sakura Kinomoto really liked about Tomoeda High School was that you knew almost everybody. It wasn't some small little school out in the middle of nowhere, but it wasn't unbearably big with hundreds and hundreds of kids. When a new student came, everybody knew about it, everybody was interested to meet the new girl or boy.

This was the reason why Classroom 2-A was talking excitedly about the new transfer student from England that would be coming any minute to join their sophomore class.

"I wonder what he'll be like," Chiharu asked as she scooted her desk closer to Sakura, Tomoyo, Naoko, and Rika.

"He'll probably walk on his hands." The four girls raised their eyebrows as they turned to look at the boy who had just walked up behind Chiharu. Takashi Yamazaki stood, a large smile on his face, as he calmly explained, "You see, it is an age old tradition for the English to walk on their hands when they enter a new room. They believe it was orginially started to ward off evil spirits, and even though not many people still believe in them, they have kept up the tradition to honor their ancestors."

Sakura nodded while the other four sighed. "He's lying, Sakura...." Chiharu sighed heavily, glaring up at her annoying boyfriend who simply chuckled.

"Oh..." Sakura hung her head in embarrasment, blushing at the thought that she had fallen for such an outrageous fib, while her friends simply chuckled at her reaction.

"Class!" The students immediantly quieted, looking up to hear what Terada-sensei had to say. "I would like you all to welcome our new student, Eriol Hiiragizawa." He gestured towards the door and a tall, lean boy stepped in, walking normally on his feet. He was definitely handsome, with his short, black hair and bright, blue eyes. Even his large, round glasses seemed to somehow improve his looks.

Eriol smiled and bowed slightly, causing some of the girls in the class to blush slightly. "Hello, my name is Eriol Hiiragizawa. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

Sakura felt someone elbow her lightly in the ribs, and looked over to see Chiharu smile at her. "He sure is cute, isn't he?" she whispered, unaware of Takeshi's frown.

The brunette nodded, glancing over at Tomoyo and Naoko who had similar smirks plastered on their faces. She giggled, and looked back up at the new student, suddenly aware that he seemed to be staring straight at her. The teenage girl hid her head as she felt a blush covering her face.

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_Yay update! Thanks to _**RedWingedAngel002** _and _**Annonymous Amethyst**_ for reviewing! I'm hoping I can make this story interesting and entertaining. Please review! I want to hear your thoughts, if you like it or not, what I could do to improve, and how I'm doing so far! Thanks so much, I can't wait to hear your thoughts!_


	3. Chapter 2: First Meeting

_Thank you everyone for your nice reviews! I'm sorry that I didn't get this chapter out sooner, and that's it's so short. I was planning on making it longer, but I decided that I would rather post it now so that you all have something to read. Hopefully I can make this story interesting and entertaining. Please tell me anything I can do to make this story better!

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_**Chapter Two: First Meeting**_

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Syaoran began surveying the room of new classmates as soon as Eriol entered the room.

'_**Hmm…..'**_ Eriol heard from the back of his mind as he stated his introduction. _**'Some cute girls…..like her….and her….she's okay…'**_

"You may sit behind Sakura Kinomoto. Sakura-chan, raise your hand please," Terada-sensei said, and both boys watched as a green-eyed girl with shoulder-length, brunette hair pulled into two low pigtails raised her hand.

As Eriol sat down in the empty seat behind the smiling girl, he asked, _'Are girls all you think about?'_

'_**The fact that you **_**don't **_**think about girls is a little concerning.'**_

"Hey," a female voice said, and Eriol glanced up to see the girl, Sakura Kinomoto, in front of him. "I'm Sakura, nice to meet you."

"Please call me Eriol," he replied, smiling. "May I call you Sakura-san?" Sakura nodded, blushing slightly.

'_**Is he **_**flirting?!**_**'**_ Syaoran asked incredulously.

A hand was placed in front of Eriol, and he glanced over to his right to see a pretty girl with long, black haired pulled out of her face with a silver clip and large, almost violet eyes. "My name is Tomoyo Daidouji. It's a pleasure."

Eriol smiled as they shook hands. _'She's quite good looking.'_

Syaoran snorted. _**'So he **_**does**_** take interest in girls. Glad to know I'm not residing in the body of some gay guy….'**_

Eriol almost laughed aloud when he practically felt Syaoran shudder at the disturbing thought.

Terada-sensei began his lecture, and Syaoran kept quiet for a while, allowing Eriol to concentrate on the lesson, knowledge that he no doubt already knew. It hadn't taken long for Syaoran to find out how smart his host really was. He was sure that if Eriol wanted to skip a grade or two, he probably could.

But even so, Eriol kept quiet, both aloud and in his mind, out of respect for the teacher.

Syaoran on the other hand, was extremely bored. He had tried a few times to engage Eriol in conversation and had yet to succeed. The black-haired teen hadn't even told him to be quiet.

He wished that he could look around the room, mostly to continue his examination of his fellow _female_classmates. If that failed, he could always entertain himself by staring intently at _something_. Anything but the symbols Terada-sensei was writing across the dry-erase board….were those words?

'_It's in English,' _Eriol supplied.

'_**So you're talking to me now?'**_ The silence continued, and Syaoran growled.

A few minutes passed before Syaoran broke the silence again. _**'Turn your head to the right.'**_

Normally, Eriol wouldn't have replied, but Syaoran's request made him curious. _'Why?'_

'_**Because I want to look in that direction,' **_Syaoran huffed, as if it were the most obvious answer. He could probably entertain himself if he could look around the room; the problem was, having no control over Eriol's body meant that he had no power to move Eriol's head….or even eyes for that matter.

Syaoran could see nothing but what Eriol's gaze rested on….meaning he could only see what Eriol could see. And currently, what Eriol could see was the teacher, the board, and the back of Sakura Kinomoto's head.

'_More girl scouting? Since you were unable to even tell that those 'symbols' are English words, I suggest you pay attention to the lesson. After all, I don't need to; English is my first language.'_

'_**Yeah, well Chinese is mine! So sue me if I don't understand much English. I understand Japanese perfectly well, so I'm already bilingual.'**_

Eriol didn't reply.

And so, unwilling to pay attention to the lesson, Syaoran decided to stare instead at the back of Sakura Kinomoto's head. Her hair was short enough that he could see the back of her neck, and he watched as her shoulders rose and fell with each breath she took.

He wished he could see her face instead; he remembered seeing her bright, green eyes when she first greeted Eriol, and wondered if she had some foreign blood in her. After all, it was some what rare to see eyes that green in Japan.

Syaoran decided, as he stared at her, that she was rather cute. She had a different sort of beauty than Tomoyo, however. The black-haired girl had a sort of regal feeling to her, as if a crown would look natural on her. Sakura, however, had a girl-next-door look that was cute for her.

If Syaoran had been in control of Eriol's body, he would be blushing slightly; Eriol smirked slightly as he monitored Syaoran's thoughts. Thoughts of this sort continued until the bell rang and lunch hour began.

::~::

"So what do you think of Eriol-kun?" Rika asked as she, Chiharu, Naoko, Tomoyo, and Sakura sat down for lunch under the shade of a large tree.

Sakura thought for a moment, playing with her rice with her chopsticks, before answering, "He seems nice."

"And he's handsome!" Chiharu giggled. "Not to mention he was totally flirting with Sakura-chan!" The others laughed as Sakura lowered her head to hide her blush.

"I-I-I don't think he was….f-flirting with me!" she insisted. "He was just being friendly."

"Oh, he was frieeeenddddllly alright," Chiharu continued, nudging Sakura who retaliated with her chopsticks, accidentally flinging food all over the other girl.

Sakura gasped. "Ah! Chiharu-chan! I'm sorry!"

"It's alright." The five girls laughed.

The laugher died down and Tomoyo said, "Eriol-kun is very gentlemanly, isn't he?" The others nodded. "It must come with being British."

There were footsteps before a shadow fell across Sakura; she turned to see Eriol standing behind her. "Do you mind if I join you ladies?" he asked smiling. The girls shook their heads and he sat down beside Sakura.

"Eriol-kun," Naoko started, "What is England like?"

Suddenly the girls were asking all sorts of questions about where Eriol lived, and he chuckled as he began explaining the country he had come from. Meanwhile, Syaoran ignored them and stared at the delicious looking food that he wished he could eat.


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